UCLA
Arizona
No. 4 UCLA Travels to No. 17 Arizona Saturday
January 18, 2018 | Gymnastics
No. 4 UCLA at No. 17 Arizona
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018 – 4 p.m. MT / 3 p.m. PT
@ Tucson, Ariz. (McKale Center)
Live Stream: pac-12.com/live/university-arizona
Live Stats: arizonawildcats.com
UCLA TRAVELS TO TUCSON FOR PAC-12 OPENER
No. 4 UCLA (4-0) heads to Tucson, Ariz. for its Pac-12 Conference opener against Arizona (0-2) on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 4pm MT/3pm PT. The meet will take place at the McKale Center and will be live streamed on pac-12.com/live/university-arizona.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Arizona has competed in two meets so far this season, with a high score of 195.425 achieved in a close season-opening loss to Denver. Last week, the Wildcats hit 24-for-24 routines but lost on the road to Iowa State, 195.450-194.975. The Wildcats are led by seniors Madison Cindric, Victoria Ortiz and Kennady Schneider and are coached by interim head coach John Court.
THE SERIES WITH ARIZONA
UCLA is 70-10 overall against Arizona, with 21-straight victories. Arizona's last dual meet win over the Bruins came in Tucson in 2006. In 2017, UCLA posted a 49.625 on floor exercise, including a 9.975 by Hallie Mossett, to secure a 197.725-196.275 victory that was the 700th win in UCLA's history. The last time the Bruins competed in Tucson, Katelyn Ohashi won the all-around and uneven bars to help UCLA defeat Arizona, 196.800-196.475.
BRUINS WIN ELEVATE THE STAGE
The Bruins got a head start on NCAA Championship preparation by competing on podium at Elevate the Stage in Reno and taking first place with a score of 197.200. Utah was second with 196.975, followed by Washington with 195.625 and Stanford with 195.350. The Bruins scored 49.4 on floor exercise and vault and clinched the meet with a 49.375 on uneven bars in the final rotation. UCLA trailed after one rotation but took the lead in rotation two with a strong floor exercise set highlighted by 9.9s from Gracie Kramer, Kyla Ross and Pauline Tratz. In rotation three, the Bruins improved upon their season-opening vault score by one point, scoring 49.4 thanks to 9.9s from Napualani Hall and Felicia Hano. In the final rotation, UCLA secured the win with 9.825s from Sonya Meraz and Nia Dennis, a 9.85 from JaNay Honest, a 9.95 from Ross and a meet-clinching 9.925 from Christine Peng-Peng Lee on the final routine. Ross tied for first on uneven bars and was third in the all-around with a 39.55.
WEEKLY HONORS
For the second-straight week, Christine Peng-Peng Lee was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week, her sixth career honor. Lee helped lead UCLA to the team victory at Elevate the Stage, clinching the win for UCLA with a third-place mark of 9.925 on uneven bars in the Bruins' final routine. She also scored 9.825 on balance beam in the first rotation to tie for second place on the event.
FLOORS UP
UCLA ranks No. 1 in the nation on floor exercise for the second consecutive week with an average of 49.413. The Bruins scored 49.425 in the season opener and 49.4 last week in Reno and have four gymnasts ranked in the Top 20 nationally - No. 10 Gracie Kramer and Kyla Ross, No. 18 Pauline Tratz and No. 20 Felicia Hano. All four Bruins are averaging 9.875 or higher this season. Kramer and Ross have been quite the 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup, scoring 9.9 to start the rotation in both meets. Hano and Tratz on the back end have scored no lower than 9.875. UCLA tumbling on floor has been impressive, with Kramer doing a front double full-punch front, Ross starting with a whip-double back, Hano and Katelyn Ohashi starting with double layouts, Nia Dennis with a double Arabian and Tratz with a full-in.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's newcomers have been strong so far this season. Nia Dennis has averaged 39.138 in the all-around, with a high of 39.225 set last week in Reno. Competing on vault and floor, Pauline Tratz has scored no lower than 9.85 on any routine thus far, averaging 9.863 on vault and 9.888 on floor. Redshirt freshman Grace Glenn has competed on beam in two meets, with a high of 9.75. Junior transfer Brielle Nguyen tied for second on beam with a 9.825 leadoff routine at Elevate the Stage in her UCLA competitive debut.
IN THE RANKINGS
For the second-straight week, UCLA remains at No. 4 in the national rankings with an average of 196.725. The Bruins still stands in first on floor exercise with a 49.413 average (tied with Utah) and are second on bars (49.338), 10th on beam (49.025) and 13th on vault (48.950). Christine Peng-Peng Lee ranks tied for first in the nation on bars (9.950) and is 14th on beam (9.875). Kyla Ross is third in the all-around (39.525) and on bars (9.925) and 10th on floor (9.9). Pauline Tratz ranks 24th on vault (9.863) and 18th on floor (9.887). Gracie Kramer is tied for 10th on floor (9.9), and Felicia Hano is 20th (9.875). Nia Dennis ranks 25th in the all-around (39.137).
ABOUT THE BRUINS
UCLA returns 13 competitors from last year's fourth-place NCAA Championship squad, including 2017 NCAA bars and beam champion Kyla Ross and All-Americans Madison Kocian, Christine Peng-Peng Lee, Katelyn Ohashi and Felicia Hano. Lee was named the 2017 West Region Gymnast of the Year and Pac-12 Specialist of the Year, while Ross earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. The Bruins lose high-scoring routines from Madison Preston (vault), Mikaela Gerber (beam), Angi Cipra (floor) and Hallie Mossett (beam and floor) but bring in national team freshmen Nia Dennis (U.S.) and Pauline Tratz (Germany) and return the services of Anna and Grace Glenn, who redshirted in 2017. UCLA also retains all four gymnasts who scored perfect 10s last season - Ross (four), Lee (three), Ohashi (two) and Kocian (one). UCLA is coached by Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century Valorie Kondos Field, Associate Head Coaches Chris Waller and Randy Lane, and volunteer coach and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber.
BY THE NUMBERS
UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 15 meets and 49+ on floor in its last nine meets … Sonya Meraz has competed in 40 straight meets, and JaNay Honest has competed in 30 straight … Madison Kocian has hit 45 consecutive routines without a fall … Christine Peng-Peng Lee has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 12 of her last 15 meets … Kyla Ross has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 11 of her last 12 meets … Associate head coach Chris Waller improved to 3-1 in his career as acting head coach, as he led the Bruins to a season-opening win over Ohio State as head coach Valorie Kondos Field was out with the flu.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS
UCLA's roster is filled with international competitors, led by Olympic gold medalists Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross. Kocian is a three-time World Champion, having won a share of the uneven bars title in 2015 and team titles in 2014 and 2015. Ross was also part of the 2014 World Championship team and won a total of four individual medals in 2013 and 2014. Stella Savvidou, Giulianna Pino and Pauline Tratz competed at the 2015 Worlds along with Kocian, with Savvidou representing Cyprus, Pino representing Ecuador and Tratz competing for Germany. Christine Peng-Peng Lee competed at the 2011 World Championships for Canada. Katelyn Ohashi has American Cup (2013) and Pacific Rim Championship (2012 juniors) all-around championship titles to her credit. The 2012 Pacific Rim Championship podium had a decidedly UCLA-flavor to it, as Jordyn Wieber, Ross and Lee went 1-2-3 in the senior competition, and Ohashi won the all-around, bars, beam and floor titles in the junior competition. Nia Dennis and Ross both competed at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championship, with Dennis winning team gold and all-around and vault silver in the junior competition and Ross winning beam and team gold and all-around silver in the senior division.
INJURY UPDATE
UCLA begins the season with Madison Kocian on the sidelines after undergoing shoulder surgery in August. Senior Rechelle Dennis will have to sit out 2018 with a ruptured Achilles but is expected to return next year for a fifth year.
FOURTEEN ON DIRECTOR'S HONOR ROLL
A total of 14 Bruin gymnasts made the UCLA Director's Honor Roll for Fall 2017. Six had 3.5 or higher GPAs for the quarter - Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Christine Peng-Peng Lee, Sonya Meraz, Kendal Poston and Pauline Tratz. The other eight had GPAs between 3.0 and 3.49 - Napualani Hall, Felicia Hano, JaNay Honest, Rebecca Karlous, Giulianna Pino, Mercedez Sanchez, Macy Toronjo and Lilia Waller.
BRUINS SIGN FRAZIER, WRIGHT FOR 2019 SEASON
U.S. National Team member Margzetta Frazier (Erial, N.J.) and Level 10 vault champion Sekai Wright (Paramount, Calif.) signed national letters of intent with UCLA in November and will join the Bruin squad in 2019. Frazier, who trains at Parkettes, is a rising star coming off a fifth-place national all-around finish at the P&G Championships in August. Her Top 6 all-around finish placed her on the U.S. National Team for the first time in her career. Wright, who trains at American Gymnastics Academy, is a two-time Level 10 National vault champion, winning the Junior E division in 2016 and the Junior B division in 2015. She also won the Region 1 vault title and the State all-around, vault, and floor titles in 2017 and the Region 1 vault and State beam titles in 2016.
NO. 1 IN SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS
UCLA Gymnastics has the largest social media followings in all of women's collegiate sports, ranking No. 1 across all women's sports in combined likes/followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a total of over 340,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on both Instagram (171k) and Facebook (148k) and third on Twitter (21.9k). Among all UCLA teams, gymnastics ranks first on Instagram and Facebook, and UCLA Gymnastics is the most followed collegiate women's team Instagram account in the nation. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics. The team's Snapchat name is also uclagymnastics.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will have a second chance at competing on a podium when they travel to Fort Worth, Texas for the Metroplex Challenge against LSU, North Carolina State and Washington. The meet will take place at the Fort Worth Convention Center on Saturday, Jan. 27.
Players Mentioned
